Has anyone experience of using a microwave internet link. The tech company ‘Virus’ in Kalives offer this service. I think you have to be in direct line with their transmitter and they charge for so many gigs of download.

I'm not sure how Virus are doing it but the shop in my village rents 6 lines all with fast broadband giving him a total bandwidth of 72 Mbps, I think. He then distributes it using one of the WiFi bands so users only need a standard WiFi router and a decent antenna. Obviously he has a lot of customers to make it pay so there is a possibility that the service might drop below the specified rate at peak times if everybody is streaming video at the same time. Line of sight problems and distance are other possible causes of reduced speed.

Most companies providing video streamed over the Internet recommend a minimum of 3 Mbps for SD video and 5 Mbps for HD video.

For any "microwave" link to work you will need line of sight, a clear view to the other location.However for a real microwave link you require a licence just like the big telco's.In lower frequencies you do not need a perfect line of sight (for example 900mhz) but those require a licence + the speed is far lower. The lower the frequency, the longer the distance and less hinder by obstructions, but also lower speed.

Most (privat) long range wireless connections are in the (licence free) 5ghz band, to have less interference of the 2.4ghz routers who everyone have at their home. With proper line of sight, a link of +10km is relative easy to make while still using routers of below 150e each. The current equipment can offer speeds up to +-400Mbit, models are coming out on the 60ghz band that can do gigabit speeds but they are hard to aim and the distance is max 1km before the speed will drop.

To get a indication if a link is possible you could use https://link.ubnt.com/ but the site is unaware of any obstructions. It will also show the "fresnel zone", that area should also be clear of any obstructions to get the best out of a link.

So, if you have a clear vision of another location with internet, a link between the two is relatively easy to create.The offer from Virus sounds like a very good deal for holidayhomes, no two year contract like ote, and no hassle with getting a phoneline (if even possible)